1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motion detector that actuates a telephone.
2. Description of the Prior Art
State of the art home security systems require a significant, costly and time consuming installation process in order to adequately secure the home against intruders. Such security systems monitor the perimeter of the house for a breach in the system, as well as monitor the interior of the house for any motion, smoke and/or fire. Such home security systems typically require additional service costs for monitoring of alarms by a service company. One problem with such systems is that once they are installed in the house, they remain affixed thereto. In the event a person moves into another dwelling, such systems cannot be relocated.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a security system which offers some degree of security against unwanted intruders and/or fire, yet also is freely portable by its owner. Such a device is especially desirable for persons who dwell in apartment buildings which are not equipped with state of the art security systems that regulate entry to the apartment building.
The related art contains a number of devices which teach the use of alarm phones capable of dialing a predetermined phone number in response to a triggering event. The following art disclose various telephone alarm devices: U.S. Pat. No. 647,307, issued on Apr. 10, 1900 to J. M. Latimer; U.S. Pat. No. 669,792, issued on Mar. 12, 1901 to A. S. Hibbard; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,088,002, issued on Jul. 27, 1937 to H. D. Scott.
Of particular interest is U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,508, issued on Jul. 20, 1971 to Roger C. Glidden, which discloses a data reporting system that utilizes a motor-driven code wheel which programs the supply of electrical energy from telephone lines to the code wheel-driving motor through a switching device to intermittently load the telephone lines with dialing pulses. The code wheel relies upon a plurality of camming surfaces thereon for effecting contact members that open and close circuitry in response to code wheel rotation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,891, issued on Feb. 10, 1976 to George K. Roeder, discloses a burglar alarm which utilizes a motor-driven cam device to physically depress a call button present on a telephone, thereby initiating a telephone call.
An informational brochure by TelAlert of Calgery, Alberta (Canada) discloses a security alarm telephone capable of dialing up to nine pre-set telephone numbers in response to a signal from one of a variety of detectors. Another informational brochure discloses a telephone alarm dialing system (DICON 9000), which dials several preset telephone numbers and plays a computer synthesized voice message in response to a signal from a detector.
Other alarm devices which activate telephone dialing operations include: U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,888, issued on Jan. 11, 1994 to Matti Myllymaki; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,144, issued on Feb. 7, 1995 to John D. Nichols. This concept also is taught by French Patent No. 927,845, issued on Nov. 11, 1947, Great Britain Patent Nos. 1,594,204, issued on Jul. 30, 1981, and 2,049,353, issued on Dec. 17, 1980, and PCT Patent Application Publication No. WO 89/03627, published on Apr. 20, 1989. Alarm-actuated telephone dialers are taught in the article Build an Emergency Telephone Dialer at page 38 of the September, 1992 issue of Popular Electronics and the advertisement entitled Protection On-Line at page 14 of the September, 1993 issue of the DAK catalog. U.S. Pat. No. 2,804,501, issued on Aug. 27, 1957 to V. B. Hart, teaches a voice warning system, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,806,902, issued on Sep. 17, 1957 to J. P. Gutierrez, and 3,072,746, issued on Jan. 8, 1963 to J. J. Zimmermann, teach automatic redial and telephone dialing apparatus.
However, none of the above inventions and disclosures describes an alarm telephone which utilizes a cam and delay circuitry to effect automated dialing as does the device according to the instant invention. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.